Drawer

ABSTRACT

In a drawer construction having a bottom, front, back, and opposed side walls, a recess is provided along the length of the side walls proximate their juncture with the bottom wall. The recess has a number of spaced-apart tab-receiving slots formed in an upper surface thereof adapted to engage with corresponding tab members on a special clip member. The clip, formed of resilient material, is bowed outwardly at its center portion away from the side walls. A pair of clip members positioned at opposite side walls resiliently hold a divider panel between the side walls of the drawer.

United States Patent 1191 Bruins 1 July 1, 1975 [54] DRAWER 2.915.193 12/1959 Bromberg 211/184 X 3,312,516 4/1967 Krahn 312 330 [751 lnvemo" Bmms 16mm, 3.450.296 6/1969 Schreyer 220/221 [73] Assignee: Steelcase lnc., Grand Rapids, Mich. 3549,30! 12/1970 Hams at 312/330 3.656.651 4 1972 Hage 220 223 (22] Filed: Oct. 11. 1973 3.656.786 4/1972 Larson 211/184 x 3,720,451 3/1973 Anders 211/184 x [21] App1.No.:405,391

[52] US. Cl. 312/330; 108/61; 211/184; 217/7; 220/223; 312/183 {51] Int. Cl. A47B 88/00 [58] Field of Search 24/73 PC, 73 PP; 312/193. 312/183, 330. 117, 194; 211/184, 51.126; 220/223, 22.1, 22.2; 217/10, 7; 403/345; 52/760 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS & Cooper [57] ABSTRACT In a drawer construction having a bottom, front. back, and opposed side walls, a recess is provided along the length of the side walls proximate their juncture with the bottom wall. The recess has a number of spacedapart tab-receiving slots formed in an upper surface thereof adapted to engage with corresponding tab members on a special clip member. The clip, formed of resilient material, is bowed outwardly at its center portion away from the side walls. A pair of clip members positioned at opposite side walls resiliently hold a divider panel between the side walls of the drawer.

12 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures FIG.

FIG. 2

FIG. 4

FIG. 3

FIG. 5

DRAWER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a drawer construction for desks and the like and more particularly, to a drawer construction having means including a pair of spaced clip members to hold an upstanding divider panel in the drawer. In prior attempts to secure a divider in a drawer or the like. several techniques are utilized. Spaced, vertical channel slots or grooves in the innerfacing portions of the side walls are typical. The divider is inserted into opposing ones of such grooves. The divider. however, tends to rattle when the drawer is opened and in addition. the grooves present an unsightly appearance in the drawer when viewed from above. In other systems, special mounting clips are utilized to hold the divider in position. Typically, the clips are fitted and held generally at the top of the drawer and the divider cannot be positively locked in position. The recess mounting provisions for the clip are readily viewable when one looks into the drawer. In one system. special divider mounting clips have taps which are jammed into a crack between the wooden drawer sides and the bottomv This also suffers from the disadvantage of no positive locking and additionally, if enough space is provided for the tabs, the drawer bottom will rattle when the mounting clips are not in position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art in its provision of a drawer construction including an elongated recess formed in the drawer side walls having a plurality of spaced tab-receiving slots located within the recess and extending along the length of the recess. A special mounting clip has an elongated body having an upper and lower extremity, the upper extremity or apex being adapted to abut the side wall while the lower extremity or base has outwardly extending tab means for engagement in selected tabreceiving slots in the recess. A divider panel is proportioned to span the distance between a pair of mounting clips disposed on opposite side walls for frictional engagement therewith.

As a result of this construction, no ugly slots are visible when one looks into the drawer since the slots are all disposed within the recess which extends the length of the drawer. The recess itself provides a smooth, continuous appearance and is much less unsightly than the slots would be. Yet, the slots are present to provide a means for positive anchoring and locating of the mounting clips. Preferably, the elongated recess is provided at the bottom of the drawer generally at the junction of the drawer bottom and side wall. This renders it even less offensive to the eye. Also, it is preferable that the tab-receiving slots be located in an upper surface of the recess so that they cannot possibly be viewed by a person looking down into the drawer.

In the preferred embodiment, the mounting clip is formed from resilient material bowed outwardly at the central portion from the side walls and is resiliently deflectable upon insertion of a divider panel therein. A further feature of the invention includes a generally U- shaped channel member on the mounting clip extending outwardly from the base in a direction opposite the tab means. The opening of the U-shaped channel faces upwardly from the bottom of the drawer for receiving the lower edge of the partition to hold it securely in position.

The many objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art as the invention becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed specification and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a drawer construction including a divider panel and the mounting clip of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary partially exploded perspective view of the drawer construction illustrating one of the mounting clips adjacent a side wall of the drawer;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the opposite side of a side wall and the opposite side of a mounting clip;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting clip as taken along the plane IV-IV of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the mounting clip as taken along the plane VV of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawing, a drawer generally illustrated by the numeral 10 includes a front wall 12, a back wall 14, and opposed side walls 18. A divider panel 22 positioned between side walls 18 is resiliently held in place by a pair of special mounting clips 30 positioned adjacent the opposed walls.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the drawer is of double-wall construction in which side walls 18 are formed of two spaced-apart partitions. The inner facing portion or inner wall 21 is formed as an integral metal piece with bottom wall 16 and is bent upwardly generally perpendicular to the bottom wall. At the approximate juncture of inner wall 21 with bottom wall 16, a recess 22 is formed by bending, the recess having an outwardly curved wall surface having areas therein generally designated as a lower wall 23, a rear wall 24, and an upper wall 25. A series of spaced-apart tab-receiving slots 26 extend along the length of the recess and are located generally in the area between upper wall 25 and rear wall 24 of the recess. Thus, they are located in an upper surface of recess 22 and would not be visible to one looking down into the drawer.

The outer wall 28 of the drawer side wall construction is generally L shaped. Outer wall 28 is spaced from inner wall 21 and is secured at the upper portion of the inner wall as by welding. Outer wall 28 extends inwardly at its lower portion below bottom wall 16 and is fixed thereto to provide additional support therefor.

Mounting clip 30 is formed from a single piece of resilient material as sheet metal and is in the general shape of an elongated truncated triangle. Mounting clip 30 has a main body portion 40 having a truncated apex 42. The sides taper downwardly and form the base 44 of the triangle. A pair of spaced-apart tab members 46 extend outwardly from one side of the base while an upwardly opening U-shaped channel member 48 (FIGS. 2 and 5) is formed in the opposite side of the body at base 44.

The mounting clip is formed with a slight outwardly bowed portion in the main body section intermediate apex 42 and base 44. The bowed portion extends in a direction opposite tabs 46 so that when the mounting clip is installed against side walls 21 of the drawer, the central portion of the mounting clip will be located a slight distance from the side walls to resiliently hold partition as will be more fully explained hereinafterv The central vertical axis of body section 40 is provided with a pair of channels 50 and 50a formed by adjacent pairs of outwardly formed spaced-apart ribs 52, 52a. The ribs extend generally along the central vertical axis of the body between tabs 46 at base 44 and upwardly toward apex 42. Channels 50 and 500 are formed of the leading edge of the spaced ribs to receive the edge portion of the divider panel as it is inserted in the drawer.

in use, a pair of clip members are positioned adjacent the opposed inner walls 21 in the interior of the drawer with the outwardly extending tabs 46 extending through adjacent pairs of spaced-apart tab-receiving slots 26 in recess 22. U-shaped channel 48 extends into the drawer and its lower surface 54 rests on bottom wall 16 holding the clip member in an upright position. Divider panel 20 is then inserted into channel 50 of the oppositely disposed mounting clips and pressed downwardly until it bottoms in U-shaped channel 48. As divider panel 20 is inserted in the mounting clips 30, the bowed portion of body is biased outwardly toward inner walls 21. The biasing force exerted by the mounting clips on opposite edges of divider panel 20 thus serves to hold the divider panel in position and to prevent its rattling while in use. The divider panels may easily be removed by simply lifting them upwardly. The clip members can likewise easily be removed from the drawer and can be repositioned anywhere along the length of channel 22 by simply positioning tab members 46 in adjacent pairs of tab-receiving slots 26 in the recess.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that many other modifications may be made in light of the foregoing disclosure. Accordingly, these modifications are to be considered as included in the appended claims unless these claims by their language expressly state otherwise.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.

l. A drawer construction including means for mounting a divider partition therein comprising in combination:

said drawer having a bottom wall and a pair of spaced-apart side walls, each of said side walls having a generally continuous recess formed therein, said recess extending along the length of said side walls;

a plurality of tab-receiving slots formed within said recess, said tab-receiving slots being spaced apart and extending along at least a portion of the length of said recess;

partition mounting means positionable in said drawer adjacent said side walls, said partition mounting means having tab means extending outwardly from the lower surface thereof, said tab means being adapted for selective positioning in said tabreceiving slots in said recess; and

engaging means on said partition mounting means for holding a divider partition therein between said side walls.

2. The drawer construction of claim I wherein said tab-receiving slots are formed in an upper surface of said recess.

3. The drawer construction of claim 2 wherein said recess in said side walls is formed adjacent the juncture of said side walls with said bottom wall.

4. The drawer construction of claim 3 wherein said tab-receiving slots are equally spaced apart along the length of said recess and said tab means comprise a pair of spaced tab members adapted for positioning in adjacent pairs of said tab-receiving slots.

5. The drawer construction of claim 1 wherein said recess is formed in said side walls adjacent the juncture of said side walls with said bottom wall.

6. The combination as defined in claim 5 wherein said partition mounting means further comprises:

an elongated body member extending upwardly from said outwardly extending tab means, said body member being formed from resilient material, the upper surface thereof being adapted for positioning against said side wall, a central portion of said body member having an outwardly bowed portion bowed outwardly from said side wall whereby a partition disposed between a pair of oppositely directed side walls is snugly embraced therebetween.

7. The combination as defined in claim 6 and further including an outwardly extending partition-receiving channel extending from said lower portion, said channel extending in a direction opposite said tab means and adapted to receive and secure a partition therein, said receiving channel being generally U-shaped and opening upwardly from said bottom.

8. The combination as defined in claim 6 and further comprising vertically extending channel means formed in said body member to engage and position a partition disposed therein.

9. The combination defined in claim 8 wherein said partition mounting means is formed from a single piece of resilient sheet metal; said body having pairs of spaced-apart parallel ribs extending along the length of said body on said upper and lower surfaces, said ribs forming said vertical channel; said tab means including a pair of spaced-apart outwardly formed extending tab members; and an outwardly extending generally U- shaped receiving channel formed therein extending in a direction opposite from said tab members.

10. The combination of claim 5 wherein said partition mounting means further comprises an elongated body member extending upwardly from said outwardly extending tab means, said body member being formed from resilient material, the uppermost portion thereof being adapted for positioning against said side wall, and an outwardly extending partition-receiving channel extending from said lower portion, said channel extending in a direction opposite from said tab means.

11. The combination as defined in claim 10 where a pair of said elongated partition mounting means are provided in alignment with each other on opposed side walls of said drawer and a partition is positioned therebetween.

l2. A drawer for furniture and the like, said drawer including a bottom, front, rear, and a pair of opposed side walls, said side walls having an outwardly formed wall portion proximate the juncture with said bottom receiving slots; vertically extending channel means formed in said body in said upper and lower extremities; a horizontally extending upwardly opening receiving channel on said lower portion extending in a direction opposite from said tab members; and a partition member proportioned to span the distance between a pair of said clip members disposed on opposite side walls for frictional engagement therewith in said channel means and said receiving channel. 

1. A drawer construction including means for mounting a divider partition therein comprising in combination: said drawer having a bottom wall and a pair of spaced-apart side walls, each of said side walls having a generally continuous recess formed therein, said recess extending along the length of said side walls; a plurality of tab-receiving slots formed within said recess, said tab-receiving slots being spaced apart and extending along at least a portion of the length of said recess; partition mounting means positionable in said drawer adjacent said side walls, said partition mounting means having tab means extending outwardly from the lower surface thereof, said tab means being adapted for selective positioning in said tabreceiving slots in said recess; and engaging means on said partition mounting means for holding a divider partition therein between said side walls.
 2. The drawer construction of claim 1 wherein said tab-receiving slots are formed in an upper surface of said recess.
 3. The drawer construction of claim 2 wherein said recess in said side walls is formed adjacent the juncture of said side walls with said bottom wall.
 4. The drawer construction of claim 3 wherein said tab-receiving slots are equally spaced apart along the length of said recess and said tab means comprise a pair of spaced tab members adapted for positioning in adjacent pairs of said tab-receiving slots.
 5. The drawer construction of claim 1 wherein said recess is formed in said side walls adjacent the juncture of said side walls with said bottom wall.
 6. The combination as defined in claim 5 wherein said partition mounting means further comprises: an elongated body member extending upwardly from said outwardly extending tab means, said body member being formed from resilient material, the upper surface thereof being adapted for positioning against said side wall, a central portion of said body member having an outwardly bowed portion bowed outwardly from said side wall whereby a partition disposed between a pair of oppositely directed side walls is snugly embraced therebetween.
 7. The combination as defined in claim 6 and further including an outwardly extending partition-receiving channel extending from said lower portion, said channel extending in a direction opposite said tab means and adapted to receive and secure a partition therein, said receiving channel being generally U-shaped and opening upwardly from said bottom.
 8. The combination as defined in claim 6 and further comprising vertically extending channel means formed in said body member to engage and position a partition disposed therein.
 9. The combination defined in claim 8 wherein said partition mounting means is formed from a single piece of resilient sheet metal; said body having pairs of spaced-apart parallel ribs extending along the length of said body on said upper and lower surfaces, said ribs forming said vertical channel; said tab means including a pair of spaced-apart outwardly formed extending tab members; and an outwardly extending generally U-shaped receiving channel formed therein extending in a direction opposite from said tab members.
 10. The combination of claim 5 wherein said partition mounting means further comprises an elongated body member extending upwardly from said outwardly extending tab means, said body member being formed from resilient material, the uppermost portion thereof being adapted for positioning against said side wall, and an outwardly extending partition-receiving channel extending from said lower portion, said channel extending in a direction opposite from said tab means.
 11. The combination as defined in claim 10 where a pair of said elongated partition mounting means are provided in alignment with each other on opposed side walls of said drawer and a partition is positioned therebetween.
 12. A drawer for furniture and the like, said drawer including a bottom, front, rear, and a pair of opposed side walls, said side walls having an outwardly formed wall portion proximate the juncture with said bottom wall and forming an elongated recess, said outwardly formed wall portion having a plurality of tab-receiving slots formed in an upper surface thereof, said slots being equally spaced apart and extending along at least a portion of the length of said recess; a mounting clip comprising an elongated body member having upper and lower extremities, said upper extremity being adapted to abut said side walls, said lower extremity having spaced outwardly extending tab members thereon for engagement in adjacent pairs of said tab-receiving slots; vertically extending channel means formed in said body in said upper and lower extremities; a horizontally extending upwardly opening receiving channel on said lower portion extending in a direction opposite from said tab members; and a partition member proportioned to span the distance between a pair of said clip members disposed on opposite side walls for frictional engagement therewith in said channel means and said receiving channel. 